Tag Archives: Elizabeth Mott
Red Cheeks for Winter
During the cold months, one of my most beloved makeup tricks is to give myself the appearance that I’ve just come in from the cold. Few makeup things please me as much as the appearance of a red cheek in the winter! I don’t actually flush very pretty naturally from the cold air – in fact my face turns blotchy red and I get weird sun sports that appear out of nowhere. BUT, I have this vision of rosy red cheeks that make me look like I’ve been kissed by the cold air and that’s what I try to replicate with my makeup when the air temperature drops.
I’ve picked some of my favourite blushes that help me achieve that red cheek look. As with anything, if the colour intimidates you, try using it with a lighter hand!
With the dropping temperature here in Toronto, I’ve gone absolutely ham on this blush. Clinique‘s Cola Pop looks like NOBODY’s colour in the pan – in fact you’d expect it to just be an eyeshadow with that kind of dark pigmentation.
But on the cheeks this is freaking BOMB! On my NW20 skin, it goes on fairly rosy, but if you have a deeper skin tone you can definitely keep building this up. I’ve started pairing this with dark red lips and it’s a great way to help balance out the colour and make me not look washed out.
It took me a while to pick up Tarte‘s Natural Beauty. It was one of those products that sat in my Sephora Loves list for not just months, but years! And yet, it’s exactly the kind of colour I love to wear.
Because of Tarte‘s blush texture, this goes on my cheeks a little bit softer, so this is a good one for those of you wanting some of that red cheek look without looking like a clown.
A word of warning – Illamasqua‘s blushes are pigmented AF. In fact, the first time I wore this blush I applied way too much and kind of gasped in horror. I’ve since learned the error of my ways and barely touch my brush to the product now. That being said, Tweak is a phenomenal colour that feels rather akin to a “power colour” to me. (Forgive me, I hate that term, but I couldn’t figure out how else to express my affinity for this shade!)
Tweak is easily one of my favourite colours to apply to my cheeks. It gives me look and feel instantly alive. I love how it makes the apples of my cheeks pop and I just really feel good about myself when I’m wearing this colour.
Burberry‘s Lip & Cheek Bloom in Poppy has a mousse texture and can be used on the lips and cheeks. This item was my first foray into Burberry products and it jumped out at me because it was so dissimilar to the rest of their line. In general, Burberry is a beautifully classy line of makeup, so they don’t tend to have shocking colours. So when I saw this one I just gravitated towards it like a moth to a flame.
Due to the mousse texture, Poppy applies more like a cream. I find this to be more of a soft colour, so you’ll get more subtle red cheek glow with this one. (The shot above is with a few layers applied to my cheeks.)
The last one on my list is a liquid stain by Elizabeth Mott that I received in an Ipsy bag a while ago. Tints & Sass, although it’s a stain, does blend out quite easily on the cheek. I apply three dabs to my cheekbones and then blend it out with a stippling brush. Due to the staining nature of the product, I prefer to wear this one when I know I’m going to be outside a lot because even if I end up wiping most of it away, at least I’ll be left with a stain! (Bonus: It smells good too!)
On the cheeks Tints & Sass is glorious. I can get instant red cheeks without much fuss with this product and I appreciate that so, so much. I even brought this on vacation with me last year when I went back to Ottawa for Christmas!
And for comparison, here is each of them swatched side by side. You can see a few of them are quite close in colour, but they all have enough variety amongst them to keep me happy!
So how about you? Do you like red cheeks in the winter?
What’s On My Face – Volume 40
In my (not so humble) opinion, there’s some pretty epic makeup looks in this post. Either I love how my makeup turned out, or I love how the shots came out. I hope you like them too!
Let’s start this off with what I feel is probably my best makeup look accomplished to date. (So I’m going to post a few extra shots of it because I’m really pleased with how this turned out.)
We were going to the pub to watch the Womens’ World Cup final (USA versus Japan), and since my husband is American, I defaulted to supporting the USA. It was so close to the Fourth of July too, so this could’ve doubled as an Independence Day theme as well.
I don’t always post huge eye shots because I typically take photos of my makeup before work and don’t have the time to perfect everything. Smaller photos hide some mistakes so I have less to worry about. But when I do guest posts, or feature products specifically, I like to make sure that I get as close to a perfect makeup look as I’m physically capable of (since I don’t airbrush my photos). But this one, despite being done in a relative rush, was done soooo well that I just had to post a full-sized shot!
And here’s what I used:
Eyes
- MAC Cork through the top of the crease.
- MAC Crystal Avalanche all over the lid.
- Urban Decay Heroine on the outer half of the lid.
- MAC Blanc Type on the brow bone.
I then patted MAC‘s Transparent Blue Glitter on top of the whole lid using Too Faced‘s Glitter Glue to make sure it stayed in place. I then used MAC‘s Strike While Haute shadow all along the bottom lash line, and applied MAC Reflect Red glitter overtop (again with the Glitter Glue).
The winged liner was done with Kat Von D‘s Tattoo Liner in Trooper and I lined my lower water line with Marc Jacobs‘ Blacquer. I applied a coat of CoverGirl‘s Clump Crusher mascara and then popped on a pair of Bombshell lashes by House of Lashes.
Rest of the Face
- Foundation: Bourjois Healthy Mix Serum in shade 52 Vanilla
- Bronzer & Highlighter: Charlotte Tilbury Filmstar Bronze & Glow
- Cheeks: Elizabeth Mott – Tints & Sass
- Lips: MAC Russian Red
Next up is a product I waited far, FAR too long to use. It had been sitting in my “to use” pile but I never got around to it. And as soon as I did, I wore it three times that week! That beautiful neon red? That’s Kryolan‘s UV-Red pressed shadow and it is INCREDIBLE. Since it is a neon, it does need a sticky white base to make it pop. But damn… seriously amazing.
Eyes
I first applied NYX‘s Jumbo Eyeshadow Pencil in Milk to the entire lid, blended it out, then:
- Applied Kryolan‘s UV-Red to the entire lid of my eye and the inner tearduct.
- Makeup Geek‘s Corrupt was used through the outer third of the lid, through the crease and on the lower lash line.
I created the wing with Kat Von D‘s Tattoo Liner in Trooper, coated my lashes with CoverGirl‘s Clump Crusher and then put on a pair of Bombshell lashes by House of Lashes. I tightlined both waterlines with Marc Jacobs‘ Blacquer.
Rest of the Face
- Foundation: Boots No7 Instant Radiance in Cool Vanilla
- Powder: Hourglass Ethereal Light
- Blush: Sleek Chantilly
- Highlighter: Becca Champagne Pop
Playing around with some Makeup Revolution foiled shadow.
Eyes
- Makeup Revolution‘s Emerald Goddess all over the lid.
- essence‘s Smokey Day Trio (dark shade) through the outer corner and crease.
On my lashes is Make Up For Ever‘s Smoky Stretch mascara.
Rest of the Face
- Foundation: Boots No7 Instant Radiance in Cool Vanilla
- Bronzer: MAC Refined Golden
- Blush: Burberry Lip & Cheek Bloom in Poppy
- Highlighter: MAC Soft & Gentle
- Lips: SST Cosmetics Vitale
I swear this is such a vain post, but anyway… That shot on the left is my favourite shot of myself I think I’ve ever taken. It’s all thick lash line, fiery eyeshadow, chubby cheeks and intense steel blue eyes. AND I LOVE IT. I did this for a guest post on Vancouver Eyeshadow Addict back in May and somehow forgot to cross post it!
Eyes
- Makeup Geek Peach Smoothie through the top of the crease.
- Makeup Geek Chickadee all over the lid.
- Makeup Geek Poppy on the outer corner and through the crease.
- Makeup Geek Vanilla Bean on brow bone.
- Naked Cosmetics IV-04 pigment on the inner corner.
I used Poppy on the outer corner of the lower lash line and used Chickadee for the remainder of the lower lash line. I then created the wing with Kat Von D Tattoo Liner inTrooper and tightlined with Urban Decay‘s Black Velvet liner. On my lashes is essence‘s Lash Princess mascara.
Rest of the Face
- Foundation: Bourjois Healthy Mix Serum in 52 Vanilla
- Contour: Makeup Geek Barcelona Beach eyeshadow
- Blush: Tarte Charisma
- Highlighter: MAC Whisper of Gilt
-
Lips: Revlon Papaya gloss
And lastly, a Makeup Geek look because I hadn’t yet played around with the new foiled shadow Pegasus.
Eyes
- MAC Cork
- Makeup Geek Pegasus
- Makeup Geek Duchess
- Makeup Geek Shimma Shimma
I created the wing with MAC‘s Blacktrack fluidline and coated my lashes with essence‘s Plump, No Clump mascara.
Rest of the Face
- Foundation: Boots No7 Instant Radiance in Cool Vanilla
- Bronzer & Highlighter: Charlotte Tilbury Filmstar Bronze & Glow
- Blush: Milani Coral Cove
- Lips: Catrice Feeling Feline
February 2015 Favourites
I feel like I haven’t had a lot of consistent favourites in the last two months. I think it’s because I keep reaching for different makeup combinations, which means I really don’t use the same products very often. I do have a few however, but it’s mostly because they’re shiny and new to me!
But let’s first start with the gross one. This is a well-loved Lash Card by Elizabeth Mott that I think a friend gave to me because she wasn’t using them. And I can’t tell you how OFTEN I use them – near daily really. I’m awful at applying mascara – I tend to get it everywhere on my lid and nothing seems to prevent me from doing so except for these.
These go on your eyelid in the most unflattering way, but as you can tell from the mascara build up left behind, they save my eyelids from complete and utter destruction. They’re really just a piece of flexible cardboard — a business card would do the same thing — but the shape of these is perfect for fitting around the curve of your eyelid.
(And, by the way, when you look in the mirror it says “Lash Card” the right way, I didn’t flip these photos!)
I wore MAC‘s Kinky (which I won in a giveaway on Swatch and Review) for three straight days this past month and I can’t ever remember the last time I did that with *any* lip product. It’s bright red, flat matte and stays put until I take it off. Using this lipstick made me realize how much I really love MAC‘s Retro Matte formula, which leads me to my next item…
This colour is everything to me right now. MAC‘s Relentlessly Red is another lipstick in the retro matte formula and it’s beyond stunning. It’s a pinky-red and vibrant as all hell. I wasn’t entirely sure it was that flattering on me, but I got a few compliments from people so I guess that’s saying something!
And just for comparison, here’s Kinky and Relentlessly Red beside each other. Kinky is very, very similar to MAC‘s Russian Red, so if you missed out on the limited release of Kinky, you can still pick up a similar colour. Relentlessly Red, however, is available in MAC‘s regular lipstick lineup so snag it whenever you want!
Another short but sweet month!
December 2014 Favourites
I never know if people are more interested in seeing a year long favourites post, a December favourites post. Or both. For now, I’ve got my December favourites and in a week or so, I’ll have gone through my entire collection and figured out what I loved all year (a slightly daunting task) and sorted out what made my year throughout 2014.
But for now… December!
I brought my Makeup Geek shadows with me when I went on Christmas holidays, so I was able to reacquaint myself with them all. I love these without question. They’re rapidly replacing MAC eyeshadows in my collection (and at a fraction of the price no less). Easy to blend and a variety of colours, what more could you ask for? In particular, I’ve been lovingBleached Blonde (top row, fourth from the left), Goddess (second row, second from the left) and Bitten (second row, fourth from the left). Bitten became my holiday theme colour because it was dark enough and unique enough to stand out.
Another major discovery over the last month has been Younique‘s 3D Fiber Lash mascara (full review here). These are easier to apply than false lashes (to me, anyway) and add incredible length and size to my lashes.
This was in my October favourites, so you know it’s a keeper. Too Faced‘s Melted Berry has been everything to me lately. Usually I opt for red lips throughout the holiday season, but I’ve found myself straying towards dark red with a hint of pink to it. Gorgeous, gorgeous colour and the staying power is incredible on these Melted products. (One day, I’ll catch them all…)
Incredible, incredible colour. Often gets me questions from complete strangers as to what lip product I’m wearing!
Elizabeth Mott Tints & Sass in Cherry. It’s one of those staining products for lips and cheeks (akin to Benefit‘s Benetint), but I find myself only using it on my cheeks. The colour is fantastic – just the right amount of “I’ve been out in the winter cold” but without the realistic look which is usually “I’ve actually got windburn from the frozen wind”.
Looking back almost everything was geared towards being festive/winter-y, which is not unusual I suppose. With the shorter days, I was less likely to try out new things on myself for fear they just didn’t work out. So I stuck to my old faithfuls and they served me well. 🙂